Wow, Curly, thanks for the information! That sounds pretty disturbing.
I've only put 10 miles on the car since I just had the work done
yesterday, so do you think it would be OK to just have the brakes
re-adjusted correctly, without having to replace anything new?

I am a bit surprised that the mechanic didn't catch these problems
on the test drive, not to mention that he says he's got 20+ years
experience AND works at a Honda dealership. I'm in a new area
and so this was the first time I dealt with these guys - the work
was about $1200 USD (I'm in Canada). I guess its time to find
a new dealership. Thanks again. - John


On Thu, 01 Jul 2004 10:13:16 -0600, "motsco_ _" <"motsco_
_"@interbaun.com> wrote:

>John wrote:
>> Hi To All:
>>
>> I just had a lot of work done on the brake system of my '92 four door
>> Accord, but am having two new problems that I would like to understand
>> before I take the car back to the dealer:
>>
>> 1) I have to press unusually hard on the brake to get the car
>> to stop when rolling (to a stop light, stop sign, etc.)
>>
>> 2) I smell a strong burning odor (like burning tar) from under
>> the car when parking it after driving on the hiway.
>>
>> Does anyone know what could be causing these issues? The work I
>> had done was as follows: 1) replaced rear cylinder drums 2) replaced
>> master cylinder 3) replaced ball joints 4) replaced front pads and
>> machined rotors 5) replaced rear shoes and machined drums.
>> Thanks for any help on what this could be. - John
>
>
>==========================
>
>I'll bet your car also feels like you're carrying a bunch of cargo as
>well, like no get-up-and-go? Fuel mileage is down the toilet too, right?
>
>It sounds like they failed to get the adjustment exact, so your power
>brakes are on all the time, and burning up your pads, shoes, disks, and
>drums like crazy. That's why you can't get your brakes to work when you
>need them. It's called brake 'fade' because really (smoking) hot brakes
>just can't stop you very well.
>
>You've probably got a big fight on your hands, so you'll need an
>alternate witness to prove that the shop now owes you new pads, shoes,
>rotors, drums, maybe piston kits, maybe caliper rebuilds. If you've only
>put 50 miles on it, just get the master cylinder removed and adjusted to
>correct the problem. If 2,000+ miles, find an expert you can take for a
>(possibly paid) spin, and show him how it smokes.
>
>Fight the original guy if he won't correct the (very dangerous) error.
>
>'Curly'